The Secret of the Mountains
by kittycat69
Summary: AU. The dreaded dragon Auggie raids the nearby village on the hunt for a princess, and kidnaps Annie! That's just fine with her, because she'd rather not go back to the castle anyway. The fact that she's not actually a princess might be an issue though...
1. Chapter 1

a/n: another AU Covert Affairs story?! I know, I'm shocked with myself too! It's a fairytale story like Honor, but won't be as many chapters. Hope you all enjoy it! Please review!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Covert Affairs.

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**The Secret of the Mountains **

_**Chapter One: **_

Annie glanced quickly around the corner, ears alert for any telltale noise that might indicate someone approaching. Absolute silence. Annie smiled; it was all too perfect.

Today the village was putting on its yearly festival to celebrate the coming of spring. Because of the importance of the festival, all of the servants except for the necessary castle staff had been given the day off.

"Stupid spoiled brat princess," Annie muttered under her breath, "She doesn't need me to stay, she just doesn't want to have to amuse herself. Well, I'm not playing her stupid games. I'm getting out of here!"

Annie sprinted down the hall. Her heart was racing in her chest. She paused to look around the next corner. When she realized no one was in sight, she sprinted down the hallway and out the wooden door. She entered the large courtyard. Beyond the courtyard, the main gate was in sight.

"How stupid," she observed, "They just left it wide open."

The drawbridge was down, and the maidservant could see out into the sunlit fields of the village beyond. She brushed her fingertips across her necklace gently. It was a silver pendant of a dragon, given to her by her father as a good luck charm before he had died in combat.

Annie crept forward cautiously. She kept her eyes alert to look for the guards. She gave a disdainful snort upon realizing that they were nowhere to be found.

"Even the guards have left their posts. They better hope we don't get randomly attacked or something," she chuckled to herself wryly, "Well, that makes it easier for me, in any case."

Annie slipped out into the sunlight and ran swiftly down the packed dirt road towards the nearby village. She picked up her skirt up slightly to avoid tripping and to try to keep it at least partially dust-free.

The village was packed with happy citizens, with maidens dancing and laughing and weaving flowers into each other's hair, and everything was decorated with pale greens and blues and bright pinks and yellows, the colors of spring. Annie had always loved the spring festival, but wasn't supposed to attend this year because she had moved up in the pecking order to the princess's personal maid. It was a nice job with a substantial amount of perks, but she was supposed to stay with the princess at all times. But endless rounds of embroidery, dancing lessons, and the company of the spoiled brat princess nullified the affects of the perks.

So today, Annie had freed herself for the afternoon to enjoy the festival. She had worn some of her older clothes to appear more like a village maiden, but she still feared that she would look out of place among the rest of the village maidens.

Three children ran by suddenly. They all squealed with laughter at some game and chased a ball. Annie smiled at them, and one smiled back shyly. Annie had reached the town center now, and began to be jostled around, lost in the crowd of joyous people. She felt content here; it was much nicer than being cooped up in that stuffy old palace all the time.

Through the crowd, she spotted the popular tavern. It was so full that men were standing outside, and she recognized some of them to be palace guards. They were still dressed in their uniforms and everything.

Annie laughed at the sight, "Hmph. No wonder nobody is guarding the gates. They're all out here getting drunk."

Still, she hurried past them for fear of being recognized. Under normal circumstances she would have reported them, but nothing bad could possibly happen during the festival. Right?

Annie broke free of the oppressive crowd and paused to catch her breath between two tiny houses. Her hair was tousled from the fight to get through the masses of dancing, laughing people. Annie was grateful for the chance to collect herself. Looking out from where she was standing, Annie wasn't too eager to head back out into the crowd. She spent all day in the castle getting jostled around by nobles and other servants, the last thing she wanted was to put herself back into that mob.

The maidservant looked around to try and see what was behind the houses. In the distance, she could make out a large river, the same one where the village got its water supply. Making her decision quickly, Annie cut through the peasant's properties and raced towards the river, enjoying the feeling of the wind rushing through her long, golden hair.

The river was making small rippling noises as Annie approached. She smiled and plopped herself down in the grass on the small slope leading down to the river. From where she sat, she could see the snow-topped mountains in the distance, an eerie dark shadow against the light blue of the sky. The sun was warm on her skin, which was unusually pale from all that time in the palace. Annie yawned and allowed herself to lay back on the soft grass and letting the sun warm her. It felt so good that Annie soon felt herself begin to drift off to sleep.

* * *

Annie awoke suddenly. Her light brown eyes flickered around for the source of her alarm. She didn't have to wait long to figure out what had awoken her, for another scream soon shattered the peaceful silence, followed by one of the most fearsome sounds Annie had ever heard; a deep-throated roar that seemed to shake the very earth and air around her.

Annie's gave settled back on the village, which she soon realized was the source of the screams. A dark green dragon, scales glistening in the now-setting sun, was perched atop a roof near the village center. The dragon glared down at the helpless, scrambling citizens.

Annie leapt up. One thought rang clear in her mind: She had to get back to the palace. Now.

Taking off at a dead run, blind with fear, Annie ran as hard as she could towards the high towers of the castle.

The sound of wings revealed that the dragon had spotted her and lifted up to give chase. It's large shadow fell over her and dust blew up all around as it's wings beat air violently against the earth. Annie was forced to shut her eyes against the dust and fall to her knees coughing as the dirt penetrating into her lungs. Instinct screamed at her to run, but Annie knew that it was a pointless effort at this stage in the game. She couldn't outrun a dragon.

The dragon landed next to Annie and bent his neck to lower his head down to her.

"Princess," the dragon growled deeply. He sounding satisfied with itself. He sniffed Annie expertly as though it did this all the time. She threw her arms over her head to try to block it, but the dragon scooped her up in it's claws and suddenly lifted off the ground. He quickly rose up into the air and soared off towards the dark mountains with its prize clutched tightly.

Annie screamed over and over as loud as she could, more for her own personal comfort than for hope that anyone would save her. Even if the village men were sober enough to fetch their bows and arrows, she highly doubted that the sharpened sticks would penetrate the dragon's thick scales. She was certainly in for it this time; the dragon was no doubt swiping her away to be its dinner or lunch or snack, or something equally as horrible.

The maidservant tried to ignore the sharp claws that dug painfully into her side. They hadn't broken the skin, but it was still rather uncomfortable. She did find herself grateful that she was still alive to feel anything though.

"Please, just let me live through the night," she whispered softly to herself. Her soft voice was carried away on the wind as they sped towards the ever-looming, snow-topped mountains.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Secret of the Mountains**

_**Chapter Two:**_

Annie had given up her constant fight against the dragon as they flew over the dark mountains. She was resigned to her fate; She was obviously destined to become some kind of dragon snack so there was really no point in fighting. The claws still dug sharply into her side, but the initial pain had receded to a dull throb that was easier for her to ignore.

The captured maidservant closed her eyes. She tried to pretend she was anywhere else, except for maybe back at the castle. Someplace other than being toted away to her impending doom by a dragon. Suddenly, the dragon jerked to the left. Annie felt her head snap back painfully and she looked around frantically to try to identify the cause of the sudden jerk in flight.

A loud roar from above told her all she needed to know. Another dragon, this one a fiery crimson, was circling above like a vulture. Annie choked back a scream as it dove again. It spiraled towards them with deadly precision. Her dragon dove to the right this time, but was unable to avoid the brunt of the attack. It cried out loudly and threw its head up to the sky as the other dragon's claws tore through the scales and flesh on it's back.

Annie screamed this time as the dragon's eyes closed and they plummeted downwards. Her captor unable to stop the decent. At the last instant, just as Annie was preparing herself for a premature death, the dragon regained control and lifted them up, slowly taking them back to their previous altitude. The crimson dragon was gone. It flew off after injuring the green one.

"What was that about," she snapped sharply at the dragon. She didn't care if she sounded rude. The dragon was probably going to kill her later anyway, so she might as well get some answers out of it.

"Nothing," the dragon bit back coarsely, "That dragon and I just...don't like each other."

"That's pretty cryptic," Annie snapped back under her breath. Not liking each other was a far cry from attacking one another.

If the dragon heard her, it didn't reply to her comment. The flight continued in silence, neither human nor dragon in the mood for conversation. Minutes later, the dragon swooped downwards into the mountains and pulled sharply into the entrance of a cave. It dropped Annie unceremoniously on a rocky ledge. She landed with a thump and cast the beast an annoyed look.

"Stop glaring," it snapped. It moved past her to land in the large entrance to the vast cavern.

"Why should I," Annie bit back. She forgot for a moment that she was in the presence of a dragon, which could very easily gobble her up at that exact moment.

The dragon didn't seem offended by he tone, but it did look back at her stoically.

"Because," it reasoned, "I have captured you, and unless you want to be eaten you may as well do what I say."

Annie bit her lip nervously. Out of one captivity and straight into another. Oh, wasn't life grand? Suddenly her attention shifted as the dragon stumbled and fell forward. The resounding boom echoed through the cavern. The maidservant rush forward and slipped only to land in something vaguely warm. She realized with a shock that it was the dragon's blood.

"Your wound," she cried out. She jumped up and rushed to the dragon's side, "You're badly hurt. We have to stop the bleeding!"

"Through that archway," the dragon indicated with a nod, "There should be bandages in there, and a tub for water to wash the wound."

Annie gave the dragon a curt nod and ran down the cavern to find the supplies.

A minute later she ran back in. She carried a large tub of water with bandages tucked under one arm. The tub had been next to a pool of water and the bandages had been on a stone shelf carved into the wall. While she was in the other room, the dragon had sprawled itself out on the stone floor. Annie hastily began washing the wound. She suddenly felt sorry for the beast. She knew, on some level, that showing compassion for a dragon that had kidnapped her was absurd, but she couldn't simply leave it there to bleed itself to death.

The dragon hissed softly as the water soaked into the wound. The water started to wash away the blood. Annie ignored its expression of pain and continued to clean the gash.

"So, tell me about yourself," she said conversationally. She tried to distract the beast from the pain, "Do you have a name, or shall I call you dragon," she quipped lightheartedly.

The dragon paused, considering, "It's August. Friends call me Auggie."

Annie smiled softly, "That's a nice name. So Auggie—"

"August," the dragon interrupted her, "I said friends call me Auggie. You are not a friend."

Annie's eyes narrowed at that remark. She pressed the wet cloth deep into the dragon's wound, which made him growl with pain.

"What's your name?" He growled at her.

"I'm Annie."

"What, no fancy title," the dragon bit out. "No 'Princess Annie, heir to the throne of whatever city I took you from?"

Annie cocked her head to the side, confused for a moment. Then the realization dawned. August thought she was the princess. Of course, he had sniffed her, and spending all day stuck with the brat must make Annie smell like a princess! The maidservant hesitated. Should she tell the dragon that she wasn't a princess? He might eat her if she did, and Annie didn't want to risk it.

"I don't really like my title," She said slowly, a half-truth. She really didn't like her title; it just wasn't the title the dragon thought that she owned. She glanced down and noticed that the dragon seemed to have other wounds. Old scars, she realized suddenly, made by the claws of other dragons. This wasn't the first attack. She switched to the bandages. She wrapped him up quickly before speaking.

"So…August…you have a lot of scars," she observed aloud, "You get attacked quite often, don't you?"

August hissed again, this time with a growling undertone, "That's not your concern!"

He rose and stalked away further down the cave. His tail pointed at another doorway near the entrance and he spoke to her again just before he left hearing distance.

"Your room is through there."

And then he disappeared into the darkened caverns.

Annie placed her hands on her hips. Subject off limits, message received. She shook her head and went to her room silently. It had a bed and a wardrobe, as well as a bedside table with a washbasin. The bare essentials. Finding herself exhausted, Annie collapsed onto the bed and fell into a fitful sleep filled with nightmares of dragon attacks and pools of blood.


	3. Chapter 3

a/n: Been a while since my last update. Sorry, everyone! Hope you enjoy the chapter! Please review :)

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**The Secret of the Mountains**

Chapter Three:

Annie awoke the next morning. She did not feel very rested at all because her sleep had been fitful. She splashed herself with water from the washbasin to wake herself and wash away the memory of the dreams.

Annie emerged from her new room and saw that the dragon August was already up and moving about the various caverns. He seemed distracted, and he stalked by Annie several times before he noticed her.

"Good, you're up. The kitchen cavern is over there; go make yourself something to eat. When you're done, please try to tidy this place up. I'm not much of a housekeeper, so that will be your task around here. The treasure room is down that hallway. Clean it please."

Annie made mental notes of the hallways and caves he had indicated. Auggie moved toward the large entrance to the cave.

"Where are you going?"

"I have some...things to do," Auggie answered cryptically, "I'm be back before sundown, please have dinner ready to eat by then." He paused. "You can cook, right?"

Annie's first reaction was to be insulted, but then she remembered that the dragon thought she was a princess, and therefore knew nothing of the culinary arts. Instead, she waved him off, "I'll manage."

The dragon nodded and exited the cave, leaving Annie alone.

"Well, he's obviously not concerned with me running away or anything," she mused, "He seems rather high-strung though. I wonder why he's so stressed out."

She looked around, suddenly aware of how massive the caves were.

"Kitchen," she reminded herself, "Eating is a good idea."

Annie located a pot and some rice, no doubt stolen from some village, and began to boil her food.

This whole situation seemed so surreal. In the blink of an eye, Annie realized that her whole life was now inevitably and irrevocably altered. She stared down into the rice and blinked back the tears that threatened to blur her vision.

"I didn't want this," she said quietly. The sound of her whisper echoed dully off of the cave walls and rang in her ears as if to accentuate the words.

The maidservant's tears began to splash into the boiling water, "I just wanted to get away for a while, I never wanted this to happen. Now I can never go home..."

"Yoo-hoo! Is anyone here?"

Annie was startled at the high-pitch voice that echoed around the caverns and danced around her ears. She quickly wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her dress, one she had found in the wardrobe of her room. Annie then rushed towards the entrance of the cave to meet the source of the call.

Standing at the entrance was another young woman. She was wearing lavender dress and a thin silver circlet for a crown. She beamed widely when she saw Annie.

"Ah, so what Reva said was true, Auggie did get a princess."

"Excuse me, but who are you? And who is Reva?" Annie put her hands on her hips and stared the princess down. How dare she storm into someone else's cave without even so much as an introduction? Annie knew, on some level, that it was stupid and hypocritical to get angry at the girl for not bothering with a ritual that Annie had always hated to begin with, but she was still annoyed.

The princess tittered. That was the only way Annie could describe her laugh, was a titter. "I'm Princess Danielle, captive of the dread dragon Michael. Princess Reva is the captive of the dread dragon Jai. And what is your title?"

Annie had to stop herself from giving a simple introduction. As far as anyone here knew, she was a princess and had to act the part. "Princess Annie, captive of the dread dragon August," she forced out, "Can I help you with something?" Because if I can't, I really like to get back to my pity party, she added silently.

"I just wanted to see if the half-blind, misfit dragon actually did something right for once," Danielle sneered, "Who knows, maybe he is semi-normal after all."

Annie's temper flared. August may have kidnapped her, but there was no way this stuck-up little brat was going to come in here and insult him. Annie had run away to get away from one princess and was not at all pleased to find herself faced with another one.

"If all you're here to do is insult my dragon, then get out. I have things to do and no time to put up with you!"

Danielle seemed to puff herself up, "Fine! Good luck on not getting eaten!" She stormed off, presumably back to her own set of caverns, and Annie breathed a sigh of relief.

"What was that about? They way she talks, the other dragons must be treating August like a freak or something"

Annie brushed the incident off and went to go eat her now-overcooked rice.

* * *

Annie wiped dust off her face and bent back over the pile of books. Alphabetizing books written in Latin and Greek was not fun when she only knew miniscule amounts of either language. She had been in this dusty cavern for hours on end and the piles of book seemed to only grow larger.

August had arrived back some time before, with yet another scratch. This one must have been minor because he had vanished into the maze of caves before Annie could even suggest patching it. That was fine with her; she was in a bad mood too and didn't need to deal with his drama at the moment. If the reclusive dragon wanted company, he would just have to come to her.

What was with him anyway?

He seemed nice, but it was like he was hiding something from her. Annie was getting annoyed with the whole ordeal, and she hadn't even been there for a full twenty-four hours yet. First he had dodged her question about the red dragon, and then he wouldn't tell her where he was going that morning. And that was excluding the weird attacks and injuries he seemed to keep sustaining. Why was August always being attacked by the other dragons? It just didn't make sense, and what Danielle had said only confirmed Annie's suspicions that something was not entirely right here. Not that being mistaken for a princess and kidnapped by a dragon was in normal by any stretch of the imagination, but something was freaky nonetheless.

Annie shook her head. This was giving her a headache. She forced herself back to the book, and made a mental note to tell August about the incident involving Danielle later.


End file.
